Tag: LPGA International

  • Experience the Daytona Beach Double Feature

    Experience the Daytona Beach Double Feature

    The Daytona Beach area has been home for me since 1997, and one of the reasons I’ve been here for 20 years is because I love the combination of small town feel with big city amenities that are unique to Volusia County and its 500,000 residents. The beaches are uncrowded, restaurant and hotel prices are low, traffic is light and there’s plenty to do. If great golf, beautiful beaches and the Daytona International Speedway aren’t enough to satisfy you, Orlando and its many resorts and theme parks are only about an hour away.

    Come visit my home town, you’ll enjoy it. Drop me a line when you do and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about places to visit in the area!

    Halifax Plantation - Putting Green

    Daytona Beach Double Feature is One of Florida’s Best Golf Packages

    3-Night, 2-Round Deal Features Outstanding Golf and a Prime Location

    Two of Central Florida’s most popular courses have partnered to create the Daytona Beach Double Feature, a value-laden package that delivers outstanding golf and perks that have made it one of the Sunshine State’s best.

    The 3-night/2-round deal starts at $298 and features golf at LPGA International’s acclaimed Hills Course and Halifax Plantation Golf Club. Golf groups will also enjoy accommodations at the newly remodeled Homewood Suites, daily breakfast and dinner and drinks each night for groups staying-and-playing during the week. 

    A 4.5-star design, the Hills Course is one of Florida’s best public courses. The Arthur Hills layout has hosted the LPGA’s ADT Season Ending Championship, NCAA Championships and the finals of the LPGA Qualifying School, allowing golf groups to walk in the footsteps of some of the LPGA’s greatest players. 

    Halifax Plantation plays through centuries old live oak trees and a pine forest while treating players to a 4.5-star round of golf. The layout has no parallel fairways, giving players the opportunity to enjoy Bill Amick’s classic design and the land’s natural beauty. 

    The accommodations at Homewood Suites, which enjoys an ideal location across from Daytona International Speedway, feature a kitchen and living room, providing golf groups ample room to hangout and enjoy the camaraderie that is an essential part of a great buddies trip.

    What happens off the course is an integral part of a successful golf trip, and few destinations in America can come close to matching Daytona Beach’s offerings, starting with 23 miles of pristine Atlantic Ocean beaches. 

    Golfers can enjoy the thrill of a great round in the morning and the exhilaration of a guided tour around Daytona International Speedway, highlighted by the opportunity to experience the track’s 31-degree high bank corners for themselves.  

    Throw-in scenic parks, deep-sea fishing, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, world class dining and night life, among countless other activities, and it’s not hard to see why Daytona Beach is poised to become a destination of choice for golfers. 

    For more information, go to DaytonaBeach.golf

  • Handicapping The 2012 LPGA Qualifying School

    By Dave Andrews

    LPGA Veterans Kim and Diaz Headline Field

    I follow women’s golf more than most people but I don’t claim to be an expert. With that said here are my look at the upcoming final stage of LPGA Q School and my prediction for those most likely to earn playing status on the LPGA for 2013.

    The grueling five-day tournament begins this Wednesday on the Champions and Legends courses at LPGA International Golf Club, the home of the LPGA Tour’s headquarters. 125 players from around the world will be competing for 20 full status cards on the LPGA tour in 2013. Another 25 limited status cards will be given out to the players who finish 21st to 45th after the final scores are posted next Sunday.

    As usual, this year there is a mixture of players in the field… current LPGA players who didn’t play well enough this year to maintain their full status, players trying to make the move up to the LPGA from the Symetra Tour (the LPGA’s official developmental tour,) a fairly large number of players from the Ladies European Tour, a few from Asian tours, and a handful of amateurs.

    Probably the best-known players in the field are LPGA veterans Christina Kim and Laura Diaz. This year, Kim suffered through the worst season of her ten years on the LPGA and failed to finish in the top 100 on the LPGA money list. She has two LPGA victories to her credit, she has won more than four million dollars on the tour over the past decade, and she was on the U.S. Solheim Cup team just last year, but now she faces the prospect of having no LPGA playing status for next year unless she plays well at Q School. She suffered a series of physical ailments this year and she recently revealed that she has gone through serious bouts of depression, including thoughts of suicide.

    Laura Diaz (also a two-time winner on the tour and a four-time U.S. Solheim Cup team player) is also forced to return to Q School after 14 years on the LPGA in which she has won more than five million dollars in purse money. This season however, Diaz made less than 44 thousand dollars in 14 starts and also finished outside the top 100 on the tour’s money list.

    Other players in the Q School field who have several years of experience on the LPGA tour include Birdie Kim, Meaghan Francella, Nicole Jeray, Na On Min, Reilley Rankin, Eunjung Yi, Meredith Duncan, Maria Hernandez, and Nicole Hage. All tolled there are more than 40 players in this year’s field who have had or currently have some form of LPGA playing status.

    This year there is a strong contingent of players in the field from the Ladies European Tour (the LET). They include Caroline Masson of Germany who was the second-leading money winner on the LET this year. Melissa Reid of England, another LET leading money winner and a member of last year’s European Solheim Cup team, is returning to LPGA Q School for the second time. Other LET standouts in the Q School field include Anne-Lise Caudal of France, Ashleigh Simon of South Africa, Frances Bondad of Australia and Felicity Johnson of England.

    A large number of players in Q School this year come from the Symetra Tour. “The Road to the LPGA” as it is nicknamed is owned and operated by the LPGA. The ten leading money winners on the Symetra Tour this season earned automatic full playing status on the LPGA for 2013. The next ten players on the money list earned automatic entry into this week’s final stage of Q School. Others worked their way through the first and/or second stages of Q School which were held earlier this fall.

    There are a handful of players competing this week who come from the professional tours in Asia. Several of them are seen as strong competitors for the top final spots at Q School. Notables include Chie Arimura and Ayako Uehara of Japan. Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand, who recently turned pro at the age of 17, was one of the top ranked amateurs in the world. She is viewed as a likely candidate to earn her LPGA card at Q School.

    A few players who graduated American colleges in 2012 and were standout players in school are also in the field. Some of them are former All Americans and have recently turned pro. Brooke Pancake from the University of Alabama and Austin Ernst from LSU lead that list.

    My personal favorite is LPGA rookie Hannah Yun. Hannah struggled this season in her first year on the LPGA. She finished 116th on the money list and is returning to Q School to maintain her full status for next year. I had the thrill of caddying for Hannah last year at Q School and I’ll be out there again this week, rooting her on as she and her full time caddie Martin Bozek get the job done.

    With that look at the makeup of the field, here are my picks (in alphabetical order) of the 40 players I think have the best chance of earning LPGA playing status at Q School this year…

     

    Lacey Agnew

    Marina Alex

    Jackie Barenborg

    Karlin Beck

    Frances Bondad

    Sara Brown

    Katie Burnett

    Anne-Lise Caudal

    Sandra Changkija

    Misun Cho

    Jean Chua

    Meredith Duncan

    Kathleen Ekey

    Austin Ernst

    Lisa Ferrero

    Meaghan Francella

    Nicole Hage

    Ginger Howard

    Moriya Jutanugarn

    Birdie Kim

    Christina Kim

    Therese Koelbaek

    Stephanie Kono

    Rebecca Lee-Bentham

    Amelia Lewis

    Tzu-Chi Lin

    Caroline Masson

    Megan McChrystal

    Stephanie Na

    Haru Nomura

    Angela Oh

    Brooke Pancake

    Melissa Reid

    Stephanie Sherlock

    Ashleigh Simon

    Kristie Smith

    Marissa Steen

    Jenny Suh

    Jaclyn Sweeny

    Hannah Yun

  • Handicapping the Field for LPGA Qualifying School

    Photo by Dave Andrews

    The final stage of the LPGA Q School is one month away (Nov. 30-Dec.4). 144 players will compete for 20 “full status” LPGA cards for the 2012 season. The 20 top finishers will be assured of getting into all of the “full field” events on the LPGA schedule (there were 11 this year). Finishing in the top 20 opens the door for those players hoping to make a career on the LPGA, but it is then up to each player to perform well enough to keep her card.

    The five-day tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida is often called the most pressure-packed event that any aspiring LPGA professional ever plays in. Last year it took a 5-day total score of 2 over par to finish in the all-important top 20. Another 20 or so of the top finishers earn “limited” LPGA status, but that will only get them into 2 or 3 LPGA events next year, making it very hard for them to earn enough money to keep their LPGA status for the following season.

    88 players advanced to the final stage of Q School by finishing high in the second stage of qualifying. The second stage event was held in September in Venice, Florida. Another 17 players qualified for the final stage by finishing high on the LPGA Futures Tour’s money list this year. Another 40 players currently hold low-level LPGA status based on their earnings this year, but they have been forced to return to Q School to maintain their “full status” for next season. No LPGA player ever wants to have to return to Q School to maintain her status, but that is the hard reality in professional golf. If you don’t make enough money one year, you run the risk of not being able to play on tour the following year.

    Unlike some previous years, there is no clear “sure thing” this year – that is – a player considered likely to win Q School. 16 year old Lexi Thompson could well have have been that player this year, but she will not have to compete in Q School because of her big win on the tour in September and the tour’s decision to waive the 18 year old age requirement and grant her LPGA membership for next season. I’ve had the chance to attend the last three Q Schools in Daytona (I caddied in one a couple years ago). I’ll be heading there again this year to take in the action and the final day drama. There will be a lot of smiles and a lot of tears among the players that day, on one of the most important days of the professional careers.

    I’ve gotten to know several of the players that will be competing this year and I’ll be rooting for them to earn their cards. Below is a list of the 40 players I think have the best chance of finishing in the top 20. I’ll be curious to see how my picks hold up. There are always surprises at Q School… favored players who don’t play well that week and players that come out of nowhere to earn their cards. It is five days of golf where every shot seems to count so much.

    Here is my list (in alphabetical order) of 40 players, out of the 144 in the field, that I think have the best chance of finishing in the top 20. I’ll be curious to see how my predictions hold up. Don’t be surprised if I’m way off because anything can happen in golf… Here is the full list of players that will be competing in the final stage of LPGA Q School: http://www.lpga.com/content/QUALIFYINGTOURNAMENTSTAGE3FIELDLIST.pdf

    My Predictions

    (* player has current LPGA status)
    (# qualified via LPGA Futures Tour money list)
    Jackie Barenborg#
    Mallory Blackwelder#
    Minea Blomqvist*
    Sara Brown*
    Sarah Brown*
    Misun Cho*
    Cydney Clanton
    Jacqui Concolino
    Stephanie Connelly
    Valentine Derrey#
    Jodi Ewart*
    Allison Fouch Duncan*
    Jennifer Gleason*
    Junthima Gulyanamitta
    Ginger Howard
    Jimin Jeong*
    Brittany Johnston#
    Hannah Jun*
    Ayaka Kaneko#
    Danielle Kang
    Mitsuki Katahira
    Kimberly Kim*
    Stephanie Kono
    Laura Kueny
    Jennie Lee*
    Tzu-Chi Lin
    Paola Moreno*
    Junko Nakada*
    Jean Reynolds*
    Samantha Richdale*
    Lizette Salas
    Elisa Serramia
    Natalie Sheary
    Jessica Shepley*
    Sophia Sheridan#
    Kristie Smith
    Jenny Suh*
    Mariajo Uribe*
    Leah Wigger#
    Hannah Yun

    About the Author: Dave Andrews is a Harvard-educated former television news reporter. Dave is an avid golfer who has become a fan of the Duramed Futures Tour and is the author of Pops and Sunshine, a novel and screenplay about life on tour. His home course in New Hampshire is annually the site of one of the tour’s events.

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